As demand for high speed data transfers (e.g., 25 Gb/s per channel) is increasing, optical systems having photo-detectors are being used for receiving high speed data. Such photo-detectors are designed to operate efficiently in an optical receiver for a specific range of telecommunication wavelengths. For example, one set of photo-detectors are designed to detect incident light of short haul wavelengths (e.g., 850 nm). Another set of photo-detectors are designed to detect incident light of O-Band wavelengths (e.g., 1260 nm to 1380 nm). Another set of photo-detectors are designed to detect incident light of long haul wavelengths used for intercontinental communication (e.g., 1550 nm).
Therefore, depending on which frequency (or wavelength) range of incident light is being used for an optical system, a specific (or customized) optical receiver with a specific photo-detector is designed to operate to detect that range of wavelength of incident light. Hence, the customized optical receiver cannot be used for detecting a wide range of wavelengths of light while still providing data rate transfers of 25 Gb/s per channel e.g., for detecting wavelengths less than 900 nm and wavelengths in the range of 1260 nm to 1380 nm. Consequently, multiple customized receivers are used in optical systems to receive/detect a wide range of wavelengths of light thus potentially making the optical system costly.